The England & Wales Court of Appeal requires French defendants to comply with disclosure orders despite the French "blocking statute" (Secretary of State for Health / Servier Laboratories)

The existence in several countries of “blocking statutes”, which prohibit the provision of economic information to foreign authorities or courts (or require prior authorization to be obtained before doing so), present a challenge to those managing international litigation and multijurisdictional inquiries. Issues relating to blocking statutes have emerged in an increasing number of international proceedings involving investigative measures, especially in cartels and white collar cases and in actions relating to private damages. A recent Court of Appeal judgment has provided valuable insight to companies that are potentially exposed to such proceedings. The Court imposed that the defendants, most of which were French companies, comply with the order to provide documents, stating that the